Sunday, September 13, 2015

So, you thought yesterday was it for cozy Halloween titles?

No way!

Check out these great titles!

Halloween Hijinks: Amid a backdrop of zombies on the run and Halloween festivities, animal control officer Zoe Donovan is faced with losing something she loves in order to save someone she loves when she finds a dead body in the basement of a haunted house just two days before Halloween. With the help of her best friends, Levi and Ellie, and her dog Charlie, she delves into a mystery as complex and multilayered as the feelings she develops for her ex-nemesis Zak Zimmerman. Halloween Hijinks is the perfect recipe, combining holiday fun with a touch of humor, a pinch of romance, and a dollop of murder.

Halloween is coming to Tinker’s Cove, Maine, and local reporter Lucy Stone is covering the town’s annual Giant Pumpkin Fest for the Pennysaver.There’s the pumpkin-boat regatta, the children’s Halloween party, the pumpkin weigh-in…even a contest where home-built catapults hurl pumpkins at an old Dodge! But not everything goes quite as planned…

Lucy’s getting very annoyed that her husband Bill and his friend Evan have been working seemingly nonstop on their potentially prize-winning pumpkin catapult. But when the day of the big contest arrives, Evan is nowhere to be found…until a catapulted pumpkin busts open the trunk of the Dodge. Amid the pumpkin gore is a very deceased Evan, bashed in the head and placed in the trunk by someone long before the contest started.

Bill is on the hook for the Halloween homicide—he was the last one to see Evan—so Lucy knows she’s got some serious sleuthing to do. The crime’s trail seems to always circle back to Country Cousins, the town’s once-quaint general store that’s now become a big Internet player. Though the store’s founder, Old Sam Miller, is long gone, his son Tom and grandson Trey now run the hugely successful company. But whispered rumors say things aren’t going well, and Lucy finds that this case may have something to do with an unsolved, decades-old Miller family mystery…

With each new lead pointing her in a different direction, Lucy sees that time is quickly running out. If she wants to spook the real killer, she’ll have to step into an old ghost story…

When school psychologist Skye Denison stumbles over the body of pushy âPromfestâ chairperson Annette Paine during a Halloween fundraiser, it looks like a clear-cut case of promicide. Annette was not the only prom mom desperate to see her daughter crowned queen. But she was also wearing the same witch costume as Skye, so which witch was the intended victim?

She's not a psychic--she just plays one on TV.

Most folks associate the city of Salem, Massachusetts with witches, but for Lee Barrett, it's home. This October she's returned to her hometown--where her beloved Aunt Ibby still lives--to interview for a job as a reporter at WICH-TV. But the only opening is for a call-in psychic to host the late night horror movies. It seems the previous host, Ariel Constellation, never saw her own murder coming.

Lee reluctantly takes the job, but when she starts seeing real events in the obsidian ball she's using as a prop, she wonders if she might really have psychic abilities. To make things even spookier, it's starting to look like Ariel may have been an actual practicing witch--especially when O'Ryan, the cat Lee and Aunt Ibby inherited from her, exhibits some strange powers of his own. With Halloween fast approaching, Lee must focus on unmasking a killer--or her career as a psychic may be very short lived. . .

What happens when too rich and too thin becomes too deadly? Voluptuous P.I. Savannah Reid is about to find out as she delves into the disappearance of a celebrity hanger-on that soon leads to something more sinister. As Halloween draws near, Savannah will have to learn a killer's deadly "tricks" before someone else is "treated" to murder. . .

Halloween in Southern California just doesn't have the frosty bite Savannah's used to, although her latest job promises chills aplenty. The Skeleton Key Three, a celebutante clique so named by the media because of their super-skinny figures and fat trust funds, are in the spotlight again—but this time, it's for something more than partying. It seems the one member of the Three who was neither wealthy nor particularly svelte hasn't been heard from in days.

The missing girl's name is Daisy O'Neil, and by all accounts, she had little in common with her so-called friends Tiffy, Kiki, and Bunny. Chubby, smart, and less-than-privileged, Daisy's role in the Three seems to have been primarily to be the victim of their vicious jibes and pranks. When Savannah learns that Tiffy's acting aspirations were threatened by Daisy's genuine talent, the poor little rich girl begins to look big-time guilty.

But just when Savannah thinks she has it all figured out—except where the body is stashed—the vibe surrounding the Skeleton Key Three changes from vacuous and suspicious to downright murderous. As preparations are being made for a monster Halloween party, to be held on the Dante compound, the patriarch himself is spotted dressed as Dracula, laid out in his coffin, complete with a real stake through his no-longer-beating heart. Now, with the party seriously pooped and the tabloids on a tear, Savannah will have to put her Halloween candy on the shelf until she's deserving of a reward. And that means finding a killer—fast—before more Hollywood money becomes buried treasure..

Welcome to Hope Street Church, where friendships are formed, fresh starts are encouraged, and mysteries are solved.

Cooper Lee has never been happier. She has terrific friends at Bible study, a great boyfriend in Nathan, and best of all, a new niece or nephew on the way. But storm clouds are gathering when a string of church robberies comes to Hope Street and an art teacher is found dead in what appears to be a robbery gone wrong. With Halloween approaching, Cooper’s beginning to think there are far more tricks than treats coming her way.

No sooner do she and her friends step in to help the police unearth a killer than they discover a con artist among their flock. Lost in a morass of confusing clues—and even more confusing signals from Nathan—Cooper’s not sure which way to turn. With the stakes so high, she sends up a prayer for some divine guidance, because Cooper knows that sometimes it takes the help of a higher power to bring down the lowest form of evildoer.

Includes heavenly recipes from Magnolia Lee’s kitchen!

On her way to attend a Halloween Ball, Kay Driscoll, a newcomer to town, witnesses the murder of a local professor. When the official coroner's report rules the cause of death to be accidental and the community accepts the judgement, Kay decides to uncover the truth for herself. Through her personal investigations, Kay exposes a complex conspiracy, woven deep within the thriving local ginseng industry, that involves some of the more prominent figures and families of Sudbury Falls.

With her new friends, the free-spirited herbalist Deirdre and the untamed modern woman Elizabeth, Kay discusses new clues over tea and pastries at Sweet Marissa's Patisserie, their crime-fighting headquarters. As Kay gets closer to the heart of the conspiracy, additional murders happen in quick succession. Before long, Kay learns that the villains are gunning for her, too. Phil, her musically talented but preoccupied husband, determined to keep her safe, withholds from her the one thing she needs most: the truth.

It's autumn in the heartland, where football rules, homecoming royalty reigns, and full moons don't just refer to a passing high school varsity bus. But this year, Tressa Jayne Turner isn't just enjoying the candy corn, popcorn balls and caramel apples. This reporter is on a mission to sniff out a serious story that will impress not only her skeptical family and friends, but also her boss at the Grandville Gazette.

And it turns out "Calamity Jayne" is in luck! Eccentric and reclusive bestselling writer, Elizabeth Courtney Howard is coming to little ol' Grandville to conduct some family business and finish her latest book. So, what's stopping Tressa from scoring this journalistic coup? A blackmailing, six-foot-two-inch homecoming queen candidate with all the charm of Frankenstein in taffeta, a rival reporter out to scoop the competition, a séance-hosting grandmother, and the sexy Ranger Rick Townsend who could tempt a nun to rethink her vows. Suddenly Tressa better watch her step, as her exposé uncovers skeletons in everyone's closets and a haunted house that's too creepy for comfort.

The New York Times bestselling author of Gilt Trip returns to New Orleans for scrapbooking, Halloween, and homicide…

Scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is ready to head out and enjoy her night until she hears some strange noises coming from Oddities, the neighboring antiques shop, and decides to investigate. Her evening plans are abruptly put on hold when out of a curio cabinet—and into her arms—falls the bloody body of Oddities owner Marcus Joubert.

While Joubert was known for being an eccentric, Carmela never thought he could inspire the passion required to kill—until she learns a priceless death mask was also stolen. As the mystery grows, so does the list of suspects, leaving Carmela with the feeling that it will take every trick in the book to unmask the killer thief before there’s another night of murderous mischief…

Scrapbooking Tips and Recipes Included

When Mel Turner is hired to rehab an old Victorian mansion to act as the eerie setting for a Halloween bash, she’s expecting the normal challenges—old wiring, bad plumbing, maybe a ghostly specter or two. But when a young man is killed after spending the night in the house, and the mannequins in the attic start to come to life, it’s clear that this is serious paranormal activity. Maybe this time, a real witch is needed.

Recommended by a mutual friend, vintage clothes expert Lily Ivory arrives to offer her help with the mannequins. Armed with Lily’s spells and Mel’s know-how, the two women must figure out the cause of all of the ghostly commotion—before Mel’s renovation project turns into even more of a deadly haunt…

Halloween means spooky scrapbooks for the Cumberland Creek Scrapbook Crop, but what's been happening around town is truly frightening. First a dead woman is found in the freezer at Pamela's Pie Palace, and the next day a second woman is found murdered by the river. Reporter Annie Chamovitz learns the victims were sisters and is certain their deaths are linked. Most bizarre of all, both women were found clutching scrapbook pages.

As their Saturday night crop quickly becomes an opportunity to puzzle out the murders, the ladies begin to wonder if Pamela is hiding more than her secret recipes for delicious pies--or if the crimes are related to the startling discovery that there are gangs in Cumberland Creek. As All Hallows Eve approaches, the crafty croppers must cut and paste the clues to unmask a deadly killer.

Includes tips and a glossary of terms for the modern scrapbooker!

When Jaine Austen's beloved cat Prozac unwittingly scares to death a parakeet belonging to the neighborhood's resident curmudgeon, Jaine finds herself knee-deep in toil and trouble. The cantankerous Hollywood has-been once played Cryptessa Muldoon, television's fourth most famous monster mom. Now she spends her days making enemies with everyone on the block. So when the ornery D-lister is murdered with her own Do Not Trespass sign on Halloween night, the neighborhood fills with relief--and possible culprits.

With a killer on the loose, Jaine hardly has time to fall under the spell of her yummy new neighbor, Peter. As the prime suspect, she summons her sleuthing skills to clear her name and soon discovers that everyone has a few skeletons in their closets. . .

These great titles are only a fraction of the wonderful Halloween cozies out there or about to be released.

What a great list of Halloween mysteries, Lisa. I'd be honored if you'd include the fourth book in my "Rhodes to Murder" series.-- The Scarecrow Murders -- on the list. The story is set in a rural university town and takes place during Halloween Homecoming Days. Thanks for considering it! :)

Hi Mary. Thanks for stopping by. I'm setting up Wednesday's blog list now and I'll be sure to include THE SCARECROW MURDERS. Thank you for letting me know. I knew there would be, and still will be titles I'll miss. There are so many out there! Lucky us!